How the rise of ‘spiritual consumption’ in China is reshaping retail
As China’s economy slows and youth anxiety deepens, a consumer trend is taking hold—one that trades luxury logos for incense, tarot cards, and temple retreats.
When 26-year-old Shanghai native Chen Jinyue found herself job-hunting during a difficult stretch for China’s economy, her first move wasn’t to rewrite her résumé. Instead, she booked a tarot reading in Hong Kong, downloaded an astrology app that had recently gone viral among her friends, and bought a wooden-fish percussion bowl from a boutique tea shop said to attract good luck.
She is one of a growing number of young Chinese consumers who are turning away from the status-oriented, brand-driven consumption of the 2010s and seeking emotional security, ritual, and meaning instead.
“They have high emotional requirements, because they work and live in fast-paced, high-pressure environments," Liang Jiming, an analyst at Beijing-based think tank China E-Commerce Research Institute, told Barron’s. “That makes them more receptive to experiences and products promising things like balance and calm."
This turn toward what local commentators are calling “spiritual consumption" reflects both shifting social values and a reshuffling of China’s consumer hierarchy.
China’s macro backdrop helps explain the turn inward. After decades of relentless expansion, the economy has slowed. Youth unemployment remains a major source of unease. Property prices have sagged, wage growth has flattened, and many young people no longer see the link between hard work and upward mobility. As traditional drivers of consumption falter, a generation raised on e-commerce and hustle culture is seeking comfort elsewhere.
Wellness has become the new luxury, but with a metaphysical twist. What was once limited to gyms and health supplements now includes meditation apps, temple retreats, sound healing, and traditional medicine.
“Digital meditation platforms, premium wellness products, and spiritual tourism are reshaping consumer spending as young Chinese prioritize emotional well-being over traditional status symbols," said analysts at consumer research publication Jing Daily. On Xiaohongshu, China’s Instagram-like lifestyle platform, the most-searched wellness hashtags in the first half of 2025 were “spiritual healing" and “temple tourism."
Even China’s retail scene has been transformed by this mood. Cafes and teahouses in Beijing and Chengdu now double as pseudo-temples, selling fortune charms, herbal infusions, and “Stay-Up-Late Water" tonics meant to balance urban overstimulation.
Jewelry sellers livestreaming on Taobao report surging sales of crystal bracelets and talismans, products that blend fashion with mysticism. One online category tracker estimated more than a million units of such items sold in January alone, totaling roughly 100 million yuan ($14 million) in revenue.
“China is at the starting point of the era of spiritual consumption, with diverse core consumption motivations for trendy products," analysts at ZheShang Securities said in a research note.
Temple tourism, once a niche pursuit, has become a social phenomenon. Travel platform Qunar shows visits to temple scenic areas up more than 300% year-over-year in early 2025, with about half the visitors born after 1990.
Popular sites such as Hangzhou’s Lingyin Temple or Chongqing’s Huayan Temple now rank alongside theme parks in online popularity metrics. Many of these young pilgrims aren’t strictly religious. They are seeking something else: order, symbolism, and a sense of calm in an increasingly unpredictable environment.
This change in mind-set fits within a broader cultural arc that includes the “Buddha-like" attitude and the “lying flat" movement—rejections of relentless competition in favor of detachment. When the external ladder feels shaky, many turn inward or sideways, experimenting with astrology, breathwork, or incense-lit rituals that blur the line between spirituality and self-care.
Brands have noticed. Global and domestic companies are layering ritual and authenticity into their marketing. Some luxury labels have quietly joined with wellness retreats, while Chinese lifestyle companies are launching product lines inspired by temple aesthetics or traditional medicine heritage. The appeal isn’t necessarily faith but grounding—a sense that consumption can be linked to reflection rather than ambition.
Yet the trend carries risks. The Chinese government remains officially atheist and keeps tight control over organized religion. Commercialization of spiritual themes walks a fine line, and companies that lean too heavily on superstition may face scrutiny. Analysts also caution that the trend may prove cyclical—an emotional coping mechanism tied to the current downturn rather than a permanent shift in values.
For investors, the new landscape offers both opportunity and caution. Listed wellness and lifestyle platforms, tourism firms with temple-town exposure, and consumer brands tied to traditional medicine could benefit from this wave of emotional and spiritual consumption. But the winners will be those who understand the deeper motivation: the search for stability and identity in uncertain times.
In a country where “consumption downgrade" has become a buzzword, the rise of spiritual consumption represents not withdrawal but reorientation. It replaces conspicuous display with introspection, trading “look what I own" for “look how I feel." As China’s economic model evolves, so too does its consumer soul—and for the country’s youth, meaning itself has become the most sought-after luxury.
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